It’s honours even at the final whistle in Lyon, as Paris Saint-Germain do just about enough to salvage a Ligue 1 point. Pochettino’s substitutions are key on the night!
German defender, Thilo Kehrer, rescued a 1-1 draw for Paris Saint-Germain at Lyon on Sunday, as boss, Mauricio Pochettino’s inspired, second-half substitutions helped to stretch Les Parisiens’ Ligue 1 advantage to 11 points.
Kehrer was introduced in the 69th minute and struck eight minutes later, after being teed up by a pass from fellow substitute, Edouard Michut, to leave PSG with 47 points from 20 games so far.
The result leaves home side, Lyon, who had found the net on 7 minutes through Lucas Paquetá, in 11th place on 25 points.
Earlier, Nice went back into second place, when they overcame Stade Brestois 3-0 away, despite being reduced to 10 men after just 20 minutes when Morgan Schneiderlin saw red.
PSG had to manage the absences of Lionel Messi and Neymar who were out with COVID-19 and injury respectively. Therefore, Pochettino was forced to pair Mauro Icardi with Kylian Mbappé in attack.
Peter Bosz’s Lyon side were content to give up possession in order to try to hit PSG on the break and they were rewarded with less than ten minutes played, when Paqueta beat Keylor Navas with a low angled shot, after a Bruno Guimarães through-ball.
The visitors looked to rely heavily on the attacking guile of Kylian Mbappé, but the French superstar struggled to find much space against a well-drilled Lyon backline.
The forward, however, did threaten just before halftime, with a superbly curled shot that smashed into Lyon keeper, Anthony Lopes’ upright.
PSG continued to struggle early in the second half until Pochettino replaced Ander Herrera with the 18-year-old, Michut and Colin Dagba with Kehrer.
The changes paid off almost immediately, with both substitutes combining to steal a point, in an underwhelming PSG performance.
